European Open Access Platform: publish research results quickly and free of charge
The SNSF is joining Open Research Europe. Starting in autumn 2026, all researchers in Switzerland will be able to publish their articles on this platform. This represents a milestone for Swiss science.
The results of publicly funded research should be freely accessible to all interested parties. Open Research Europe (ORE) was founded in 2021 by the European Commission as a platform for Diamond Open Access. Under the diamond model, both the publication and the reading of articles are free of charge. Funding is provided by public or private institutions.
Open Research Europe has so far been aimed at EU-funded researchers. Over the last five years, 6,300 authors have published more than 1,200 scientific articles on the platform.
Consortium of 15 organisations
The diamond platform is now being further developed. Fifteen European funding organisations, including the SNSF, are participating in the ORE consortium and contributing to its funding. The European Commission continues to cover a substantial portion of the costs and contributes its experience as a permanent observer. The budget for the period from 2026 to 2031 amounts to 17 million euros.
The consortium manages the content of ORE and holds editorial responsibility. Starting in autumn 2026, the platform will be operated by CERN in Geneva (see box).
More than 1.5 million researchers from the participating countries now have access to ORE. For an article to be published, it is sufficient for one co-author to be employed in one of these countries.
Free and open procedure
Open Research Europe offers a publicly funded alternative to commercial forms of open access and does not require paying article processing charges (APCs).
The platform follows the innovative publish–review–curate model and conducts an open peer review process.
Publish: Submitted manuscripts are first formally checked by ORE and then published as preprints.
Review: This is followed by a traditional peer review process involving several researchers from the relevant field. Their reports are also stored on ORE and are publicly accessible. Authors can comment on the expert reports and revise their articles as needed. All versions of the article remain on ORE.
Curate: Articles that successfully pass the review phase are ultimately compiled into subject-specific collections on ORE.
Greater impact of research results
By joining the ORE consortium, the SNSF is enabling all researchers in Switzerland, across all disciplines, to publish their articles on the platform free of charge. It does not matter whether or not their research is funded by the SNSF.
"This represents a milestone for Swiss science," emphasises Torsten Schwede, President of the Research Council. "On the one hand, we are offering researchers a fee-free publication platform in an excellent European environment. On the other hand, we are creating simple, free access to research results for science, business, politics and society. This is how we amplify the impact of taxpayer-funded research."
Open Research Europe will begin accepting manuscripts for publication from researchers in Switzerland from autumn 2026.
Diverse and financially sustainable
The SNSF’s participation in the diamond platform is part of its revised open access strategy. "We are focussing even more strongly on a diverse and financially sustainable publishing landscape. ORE is an important element of this. In doing so, we are supporting the implementation of the National Open Access Strategy," says Schwede.
In parallel, the umbrella organisation swissuniversities is also providing researchers with more Diamond Open Access publication opportunities. For example, the CoDOA-CH project aims to secure joint funding of diamond journals by Swiss higher education institutions.
In addition, the SNSF will continue to fund open access articles in journals published by commercial publishers. Starting in 2027, however, it will limit the maximum publication fee to 3,500 Swiss francs. The SNSF will no longer pay higher fees, not even partially.
European joint project
Open Research Europe now includes 15 funding organisations from Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. All researchers in these 11 countries can publish their articles on the platform free of charge.
ORE is hosted at CERN in Geneva. It provides a neutral, reliable and sustainable environment for researchers. To this end, it draws on its experience in operating Open Science initiatives such as Zenodo and SCOAP3. Technically, the platform is based on the globally used open source software Open Journal Systems (OJS).
Multiple benefits for researchers
Tobias Philipp*, who is Open Research Europe suitable for?
For researchers from all disciplines, whether from the MINT domain (mathematics, informatics, natural sciences and technology), the life sciences or the social sciences and humanities. The platform already covers the entire research spectrum. From autumn 2026, the number of publications in each discipline is expected to increase significantly.
Why should researchers publish on ORE?
For one, because they receive a very good service without having to pay for it. A second compelling reason is that, after a formal check, they can publish their article immediately as a preprint. There is no need to wait for the peer review process to be completed. This enables rapid discussion and dissemination of the results. The disclosure of peer reviews also contributes to scientific exchange and the further development of research.
When researchers funded by the SNSF publish their articles on ORE, do they fulfil the open access requirement?
Yes, in choosing ORE, they fulfil the SNSF’s requirement.
*Tobias Philipp is responsible for open access at the SNSF. He is the Deputy Chair of the Funders’ Group of Open Research Europe, the strategic governance body.